Back in December after the collapse in Carolina when the Canucks gagged on a three-goal lead and lost 8-6 to the Hurricanes in a game Vancouver desperately needed, I wrote in this space that it was over for both the hockey team and their coach.

They rallied and survived, and I was wrong about Desjardins. He could have been fired at least three different times this season, but simply blocked out the white noise and pulled his players together and won enough games to turn back the doomsday clock.

As the season winds down now, there is something admirable in the way Desjardins is sticking to his convictions and coaching the way he thinks is the right way and not the popular or easy way.

But after what hockey-ops president Trevor Linden told 1040 radio on Tuesday when asked about the coach’s future, it’s hard not to conclude that it will indeed be over for Desjardins after this season.

“I think we’re going to take our time and look at our options at the end of the season,” Linden said. “I’ll have to do a full assessment of our organization, as I always do, and we’ll move forward from that point.”

Sounds fair, prudent.

But compare that to what Linden said almost exactly one year ago when he was asked the same question about Desjardins.

“There’s no reason for us to consider a change,” he said then. “He gets the most out of the players, and in Vancouver, it’s tough. You’re scrutinized in everything you do and people want to place blame wherever they can. He’s done a good job and works hard. He’s got the fire and wants to win.”

Linden declared unequivocally that Desjardins and his staff would return for this season.

Desjardins hasn’t changed at all since then, but clearly the landscape has.

While people here watch and wait, so, too, do some other NHL organizations who would view favourable a coach who has a successful track record at the American League level, three years of NHL experience, a reputation for fairness and high standards, and someone whose coaching career has been all about teaching.

That kind of coach would be good for the Canucks, too, but we’re guessing they’ll be looking for a different one.

TAN-MAN WITH A BIG HEART

Tonight’s game was yet another example that whatever the Canuck deficiencies, and there are many, Desjardins and his players aren’t quitting or accepting that a rebuild means they should be losing. They were badly outplayed for 52 minutes by a superior Canadiens’ team yet still managed to get the game to overtime before losing 2-1.

Chris Tanev is as good a representative of the players’ determination as anyone. He’s treating these games in March like they’re the Stanley Cup final, dragging out for each game a body injured seriously enough that the defenceman can’t even take the game-day skates.

“These are big games for us,” Tanev said, refusing to confirm that much more is bothering him than his ankle. “You always want to be out there with your teammates on the ice. I want to be competing with my teammates. There’s no excuses for not winning. Regardless of who it is, everyone is competing. I know we’re a few games back. But if we win four or five in a row, who knows what could happen?”

CHAPUT, ET LE BUT

Honestly, Michael Chaput doesn’t deserve the scorn or ridicule some people have for him simply because he started this season in the minors and is liked by Desjardins. And I’m not just saying that because his deflection tied the game tonight. I said it on radio today, too.

Chaput is not a journeyman like Jack Skille or even Jason Megna, an undrafted free agent who is 27 years old.

Chaput was a third-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 who was only 18 when he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ organization.

He is 6-2 and 200 pounds, a centre who amassed 13 points in 10 games for the Utica Comets last fall before being called up and sticking with the Canucks, who are giving him his first real NHL season. Chaput is 24 years old.

He may not have a high-ceiling offensively, but Chaput is not simply roster filler. He earned Desjardins’ trust with a solid defensive game and has a chance to be an NHL player.

Sure, his goal tonight was just his fourth in 52 games for the Canucks. And a 25-year-old Alex Burrows had three in 81 games in his first full season with the Canucks. Burrows did OK after that.

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